barnesandnoble.com: You've described DIG ME OUT as the life of the party and THE HOT ROCK as the introspective one. What is ALL HANDS ON THE BAD ONE?

Janet Weiss: ALL HANDS ON THE BAD ONE is the party. It's really colorful and can be introspective at points, but it's joyous and sarcastic and playful and rocking. I'm really proud of it. It really covers a lot of ground for us. And we do it confidently.

bn.com: You sound like you were having a lot of fun recording the album.

JW: Yeah, we had a great time. It was one of the most positive recording experiences I've ever had. I think there's definitely a playful side to this record and a more powerful, aggressive rock. "Milkshake n' Honey" obviously has some humor in it. A song like "Male Model" is sung very tongue in cheek. I think we were just feeling very sassy. Corin [Tucker] and Carrie [Brownstein] were writing songs that were really sassy and really fun, and we just totally went with it and got really inspired and really excited.

bn.com: There are more traditional harmonies on this record.

JW: We moved away from the point-counterpoint singing. On THE HOT ROCK there was so much complex melody, I'm really kind of amazed when I listen to it. So much can be going on at once, and it makes sense. But on this record, we're in a more forward-moving mood, with more singing together and harmony.

bn.com: You're all involved in other projects -- Corin in Cadallaca, Carrie in the Spells. And you just finished a Quasi tour. How do you think that affected the recording of this album?

JW: I think it gives Carrie and Corin time to work on songs, just the two of them. When I was on tour, they wrote four of the songs for the record. We all have busy lives, and we make it work. Quasi is equally important to me, and it makes me a better musician. I came back from tour really in shape and ready to play and feeling really creative, so I think it worked out quite well.

bn.com: What have you been listening to lately? Did anything influence your playing on this record?

JW: I've been listening to a lot more soul music than usual, like a lot of Stax stuff. Things that influenced me would be the Bar-Kays, Booker T, Jimmy Smith -- some of the more groove-oriented bands. But I listen to a lot of jazz, a lot of John Coltrane. I think that the drummers or bands that influence me the most are just rock bands, even like classic rock bands like the Who. Especially in Sleater-Kinney, I try to make up things that sound unique. I try not to model it after anything. Although there have been certain songs -- I can remember a song on DIG ME OUT where I specifically listened to Devo and then wrote the drum part.

bn.com: Which song was that?

JW: "Little Babies." It's weird that that became the popular song on the record because to me it's like the weirdest drumbeat I've ever made up! But it just blends right in, you can't even tell that it's weird. For this record it was really like, go in the basement and play, what's the first thing that comes to your mind, and things just worked really well right off the bat. There wasn't a whole lot of analyzing on this record. It was really organic and easy.

bn.com: One of your former label mates, Elliott Smith, whom you also work with, left Kill Rock Stars to go to the major label Dreamworks. Why does Sleater-Kinney stay indie?

JW: We've felt more comfortable not affiliating with big corporations as much as we can help it. We're sort of grassroots people. Having control over what we do is really important. It's so much more rewarding to see the fruits of our labor and to see Kill Rock Stars becoming a bigger, more confident, more important label and being a part of that, and to stay and feed the rewards back into the community and back into new bands who get to make records on Kill Rock Stars.

bn.com: I've heard you're a karaoke fan. Do you have any favorite karaoke songs?

JW: I try to do different songs, but I just sang "The Greatest Love of All" by Whitney Houston last night -- I did a duet with Sara [Lund] from Unwound. It was one of my favorite songs I've ever done. It was so fun.

bn.com: Do you have a favorite karaoke venue?

JW: I do, but I don't want to say what it is, that's for sure! [laughs]

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